Activities // Open Calls

CreArt Artist in Residence: Frozen People, Oulu, Finland January-March 2026 

CreArt Oulu and a non-profit organization Oulu Urban Culture are opening an open residency call for artists in the CreArt network as part of the art program production for the Frozen People festival. 

Frozen People is a winter festival of electronic music and northern art in Oulu. The event is part of the Oulu2026 – European Capital of Culture program. Frozen People will be held outdoors on 28 February 2026, defying weather conditions by the frozen sea. The festival offers brutal and unique winter conditions for the world's coldest dance party and art experiences.  

The goal of the residency open call is to invite artists to innovate and develop impressive installations for subarctic conditions, and create an art piece for the official art program of the Frozen People festival 2026.

The portfolio call is aimed at visual artists under 40 years old in the CreArt network. The Frozen People festival is looking for an installation suitable for the festival area that works in both daylight and darkness. The piece can combine, for example, light and media art, community and environmental art, and may also include performative elements. We hope for works that are eco-friendly and recyclable and do not leave traces in the environment after the festival ends. The artwork will be located on sea ice in an open seascape, so we hope they are large-scale and spectacular. The work can also utilize snow and ice, but please note that weather conditions can be challenging, and we do not recommend choosing work material based on snow and ice alone.  

Overall schedule and eligible artists 

The portfolio search is open from 7 November 2025 to 12 December 2025. 

Artist and work selection will be made by 31 December 2025. Selected artist will be notified of the selection separately to initiate travel and accommodation arrangements. The artist and work selection is published as part of the communication of the CreArt 3.0 project and the Frozen People festival. One artist from the CreArt network is selected for the residency. 

The artist applying for the residency must have been born or live in one of the cities in the CreArt 3.0 network: Kaunas (Lithuania), Liepaja (Latvia), Skopje (North Macedonia), Aveiro (Portugal), Valladolid (Spain), Lublin (Poland), Venice (Italy), Clermont-Ferrand and Rouen (France), Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic) and Regensburg (Germany). 

In addition, HDLU (Croatian Association of Visual Artists) members can apply for the residency period. Ukrainian artists apply in cooperation with Lviv Artistic Council Dialogue. 

The residency period is 28 January - 3 March 2026 (five weeks) and the work will be exhibited at the Frozen People festival on 28 February 2026. The location of the artwork is selected according to the work plan, coordinated by the CreArt Oulu, located outdoors in the festival area. 

Description of the work plan 

The work plan for the residency must include a brief description of the work to be created, the materials and other supplies used and its technical requirements, the working process and the artistic theme of the work (max. length two A4 pages). The outdoor installation must withstand brutal winter conditions and must not pose any danger to the public. The artist applying for the residency must submit a CV and a portfolio (including work samples in a suitable file format) and a copy of the passport. 

Residence fees and other costs 

The residency's work plan must detail an estimate of the materials related to the work's implementation. Required materials are allocated max. €1,500. Recycled materials are preferred in the execution of the work. 

The residency period in Oulu includes

-the artist's fee of €2,500/gross
-daily allowances for working days in Oulu (€53/day)
-travel expenses: direct trips between the artist’s hometown and Oulu
-accommodation studio apartment in the center of Oulu (5 weeks)
- workspace in artist community in Pikisaari island, located near the city center (5 weeks)

A co-operation agreement with CreArt Oulu will be drawn up for the implementation of the selected work. 

Selection criteria 

The artworks are selected by a professional jury coordinated by the CreArt project coordinator. The work plan must support the goals of the festival and the CreArt 3.0 project in general. 

Portfolio delivery and application deadline 

The open call deadline is Friday 12 December 2025. 

Register on the intranet of the CreArt project and upload your portfolio in the OPEN CALLS section by 12 December 2025.  

More information

For inquiries about the Open Call:
Project Coordinator Taina Kulmala, taina.kulmala@ouka.fi, tel. +358 401217718

For inquiries about the Frozen People Festival:

Heikki Myllylahti, heikki@urbanculture.fi, tel. +358 413174069
Inka Koutaniemi, inka@urbanculture.fi, tel. +358 50 410 9187

Oulu Urban Culture
https://www.instagram.com/frozenpeoplefestival/ 
Oulu2026 
Oulu – City of Media Arts 

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